My latest column for the Ham & High after the violent disorder across the country this summer:

“The last month has seen appalling scenes.  Far right, racist and Islamophobic thugs exploiting the horrendous tragedy in Southport for their own ends, burning buildings, attacking emergency workers, looting shops, and making people feel afraid because of the colour of their skin or their religion.

As the Prime Minister Keir Starmer & the Home Secretary Yvette Cooper have both made clear, this wasn’t protest, it was criminal behaviour – and violent thuggery on our streets will never be tolerated. Those who took part in the violence, and those who stirred it up, must face the full force of the law and I am glad we have already seen hundreds of arrests made and charges brought.  Our Police and our criminal justice system have my full support in bringing to justice those who attempted to wreck our communities.

But these thugs do not speak for Britain.  In our community, and across the country, the past month has also seen the best of us.  The helpers.  Those who immediately came out to join the clean-up, repair the damage, bring food to exhausted emergency workers, raise hundreds of thousands of pounds to rebuild a burnt-out library, and in north London and elsewhere stand together in an overwhelming show of peaceful solidarity and unity.

These are the people who speak for our country, and are who make modern Britain a country we can be proud of.  “We are stronger together and, when we unite, our voices rise above those who seek to divide us.”  So spoke the President of the London Islamic Cultural Centre and Chair of North London Council of Mosques Bibi Khan MBE when our community came together, of all faiths and none, at Wightman Road Mosque to say there is no place for hate in our borough.

Last week, I joined Haringey Police Officers on a walkabout of Duckett’s Common and Turnpike Lane.  It was a good opportunity for me to thank them, and for local officers to listen and reassure business-owners and customers about the work they’re doing to keep people safe.  Across the country, our emergency workers have had an incredibly difficult job to do but here in Haringey and Barnet I’ve been heartened to hear that the presence and responsiveness of local neighbourhood officers has been appreciated by residents.

The far right thrive on whipping up fear and sowing hatred.  In their cruel attacks against vulnerable people seeking asylum, they want to tear communities apart.  We must not let them.  We are one community, and we stand together.”